Can anyone identify what I have on my pluot tree? Is it safe to leave it, do I have to remove it ?
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It’s black knot, and yes it definitely needs to be removed. Burn any infected wood you remove. Do a search for more info.
I hope it’s not your pluots main trunk/central leader infected, as that would not be good. Perhaps post more of an overview shot of your tree identifying exactly where the black knot is located on the tree. People could give you more detailed advice if they know exactly where the infection is located, when your fruit ripens, and exactly what other trees you own that are susceptible to black knot. Your main decision will be to either remove it ASAP, or wait till your fruit ripens and risk it spreading to other limbs/trees.
Edit:
Also, exactly which pluot variety is it?
Ouch, now I’m worried about my pluot trees. I just remembered we live pretty close to each other, and I think we both grow similar varieties of pluots.
Be sure to check all your other plum/cot/pluot trees for signs of small growths that look anything similar to your pics. They start off as small lumps that are brown or greenish in colour and turn black as they grow older. Bad news for you.
My pluots have been clean so far, but I’ve had to remove one knot from my Mirrabelle, and 7 knots from various limbs and grafts of Satsuma so far this season.
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Its horrible black knot. You can remove it. Do not let it get any larger. It is horrible, your tree will be covered in it in no time at all.
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Yikes, so I have to cut the whole thing off ? Can’t I just scrape it off? Dang! I am so sad… however is not on the main trunk. They are on my flavor king and flavor queen branches
Yes, you can try cutting it off, but you need to make sure you’ve cut down to completely clean looking wood. Some members recommend scorching the area with a torch after removing the black knot.
Personally, I always err on the side of caution and go with complete limb removal. I believe most experts recommend cutting the branch off at least 8" below where the black knot occurred. Even though it really hurts to do that, sometimes it’s simply better to cut your losses and bite the bullet (so to speak).
I’m pretty sure you can graft, so you may want to consider grafting on spring satin plumcot when you get new growth on the infected tree. I’ve read that Spring Satin is better for not getting black knot infections compared to many pluot varieties.
That sucks, as I grow flavor king/queen as well. I will be watching them extremely closely for any growths from now on.
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ohh man. they are both kind of my main trunk, I will try to remove them today. yikes so sad. can I get a cutting of your spring satin and nadia for next spring @tbg9b
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We can discus that in a PM. I’ll check the patent issues and if it’s OK, then that shouldn’t be a problem.
I keep most of my trees with a few exceptions, (heritage grown) to under 7 feet tall. At least with small form trees you can spot problems with pests or diseases far earlier, and it’s usually way easier dealing with those problems on small trees.
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If you can spare a limb.
On people they are called tumors on trees, galls. I spend days cutting it out of my nursery trees every year and consider it just part ot the deal if you want to grow plums.
Interesting what was said about Spring Satin being resistant. I just harvested about 5 pounds of fruit from my tree and have been harvesting it for about a week. Now that you mention it, it does seem to be resistant. The thing is I like to harvest J. plums from its season right through Sept (Burgundy Queen). If you just have a couple of trees with multiple grafts on myro rootstock you can go from one variety to another with Elephant Heart and BQ having the ability to stay good in the fridge for over a month. Spring Satin might be the ideal mother tree the way Bluebyrd is for E plums.
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I haven’t had my plumcots & pluots long enough to judge, but I have heard others say Spring Satin isn’t bothered as badly as the pluots with black knot.
My long range plan is for top working Japanese plums onto more resistant root stock/mother trees. I’m growing American and Canadian plums as well as hybrid plums as insurance against losing entire trees to black knot. I will top work them with more desirable varieties when they are larger.
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And I’m suggesting it’s probably true. The last plum tree growing where my Spring Satin is was an Elephant Heart and I was cutting out galls all the time. SS has been there for maybe 6 years and is now a big tree and I don’t think it’s had even a single gall.
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Well that is great news, I’m glad to hear that @alan . My Spring Satin hasn’t fruited yet, but I’m pretty sure it should next year as it had lots of blooms this spring.
Elephant heart has been really good for me here so far. I have grafted EH to peach, nectarine, apricot and Euro/Japanese, and hybrid plums with no sign of black knot so far.
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Check out this thread about black knot. You can use a blow torch like. @scottfsmith has done. Read his post # 52 on this link.
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Note that I now recommend first cutting out all the deeper-green wood (you will understand what that is once you start cutting into the knots), and then blowtorching well. For some knots on the Satsuma plum I only blowtorched them and I think some of the knots deep in the wood did not get hot enough and it came back. If you are careful about cutting every bit out and then blowtorching to the point that smoke is coming off that knot will be toast.
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Like the other posts indicated, welcome to the exciting world of Black Knot. I have been struggling to find resistant varieties for the past 10 years in upstate NY, zone 5. It does limit some varieties to try, but having some success. As I cycle through every variety I can try, the standouts are pretty clear. While the Stanley Plum (the worst for black knot) had every twig infected with galls, 10 feet away, my Superior still has none going on 12 yrs old. My Alderman of the same age still has none. For newer trees that are several years old, Maneta, Early Italian, Toka, and Au Rubrum are free of any sign of Black Knot.
I was disappointed this spring to find my Oblinaja and Seneca had several knots forming . Supposedly The President is supposed to be very resistant or even the most resistant. I planted one about 20 feet from a wild Black Cherry tree that always has it and it did get a gall last year that I cut off and nothing has come back this year. Im starting to think that the young sapling trees are more susceptible to Black knot and may be able to fight it off as they mature. I also had two Bluebyrds that I ripped out last year as saplings that were covered in knots in one year, but Ive gotten another this spring on the off chance they were mislabeled at the seller.
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